Its Olkaria station outside Naivasha already produces 158MW. The government says it wants to raise its geothermal capacity to 576MW within a decade.

ECONOMIST: A hot new proposal for ending electricity shortages

The Ethiopians hope for 440MW of geothermal power against their present energy capacity of 790MW. Geothermal could be an alternative to hydroelectric dams, which provide most of the region's power but are vulnerable to drought.

ECONOMIST: A hot new proposal for ending electricity shortages

Conventional geothermal power stations worldwide have a total capacity of 10.7 gigawatts (GW) and will generate 67, 250 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy this year enough to supply power to more than 52.5m people in 24 countries, according to America's Geothermal Energy Association.

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So while gas is hyped solar, wind, water, geothermal and biomass are making up more of new capacity.

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